Humans are an integral component of the Earth system as conceptualised by IGBP. João Morais recalls key milestones in IGBP’s engagement with the social sciences and offers some words of advice for Future Earth.

The iconic images of Earth beamed back by the earliest spacecraft helped to galvanise interest in our planet’s environment. The subsequent evolution and development of satellites for Earth observation has been intricately linked with that of IGBP and other global-change research programmes, write Jack Kaye and Cat Downy .

"Welcome to the Anthropocene" film and still images

A visually spectacular animated film, Welcome to the Anthropocene, has been released on the eve of the major international science conference Planet Under Pressure.

Welcome to the Anthropocene is a 3-minute rollercoaster ride through the latest chapter in the story of how one species has transformed a planet.

“The Anthropocene changes our relationship with the planet. We have a new responsibility and we need to determine how to meet that responsibility.” Conference Chief Scientific Advisor, Nobel Laureate Professor Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University.

Welcome to the Anthropocene, commissioned by the London Planet Under Pressure conference*, provides a data visualization of the state of the planet. It opens at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. As the camera swoops over Earth, viewers watch the planetary impact of humanity: cities, roads, railways, pipelines, cables and shipping lanes until finally the world’s planes spin a fine web around the planet. The film is produced as part of the world’s first educational portal on the Anthropocene.

NOTE ON GRAPH OVERLAY:

In the 3-minute film, the graph's y-axis title rotates like an airline departure board providing latest information on key parameters: population, energy use, GDP, urbanization, fertilizer use, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and others. The graph overlay is an artist's interpretation of the great acceleration in human activity.

Copyright: Globaia, Planet Under Pressure, SEI, SRC, CSIRO

Below are still images from the short film "Welcome to the Anthropocene".

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

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Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

Download a hirez version of this image (1920 pixels x 1080 pixels) here

This final issue of the magazine takes stock of IGBP’s scientific and institutional accomplishments as well as its contributions to policy and capacity building. It features interviews of several past...

This issue features a special section on carbon. You can read about peak greenhouse-gas emissions in China, the mitigation of black carbon emissions and the effect of the 2010-2011 La Niña event on gl...